670. Introduction

Introduction. It is necessary that the fundamental principles of retouching, etching and modeling be thoroughly understood, and that you become capable of applying these with precision and accuracy before you can consider yourself a competent retoucher. The preceding lessons have been arranged so as to gradually train one to master each of these principles in their proper order. If the instruction has been carefully followed out and the practice work given its due amount of attention, you should now thoroughly understand the art of retouching. But, even though all of this is clear to you, if you lack practice you are far from the goal.

671. Each and every lesson must receive its full amount of attention and nothing in it slighted. It is only by practice that you can expect to master the individual lesson, and until mastered you should refrain from working on a following one. There are times, however, after diligently applying yourself to a certain lesson, that the work will become monotonous and tiresome. By changing, taking up the next following lesson, which will be along new lines, you will become rested, and later may return to the former lesson, when the work will appear easier to you.

672. Retouching cannot be hurried and we would again most emphatically impress upon you the importance of practicing as much as possible. When you have fifteen or twenty minutes to spare, sit down to the retouching desk and work on a negative, if only in a general way, but always carry out the general principles and have a system

of working. It is not advisable to proceed in a hit or miss way. Secure cast-off negatives from some studio, if it is not convenient to make them yourself. The heads of these negatives should not be less than two inches in diameter, as this size of head is far more easy to retouch. As you cannot control your strokes as well at the start, you will find it a much simpler task to remove the imperfections on the negative of larger heads.

673. It is best to work on negatives of one particular style of lighting before attempting to retouch any other lighting effects. After having a fair idea of what is required on this class of negatives, secure those having heads posed in different ways and showing a variety of lightings. Negatives of this kind will acquaint you with the requirements of general studio work.

674. Before attempting to retouch a negative you should study it and note exactly what is to be done. The commercial retoucher should be able to read the negative very quickly and ascertain exactly what retouching, etching and modeling is required. It is not necessary for him to proof the negative, as he knows what will be the result of each stroke of the pencil or of the knife. If, however, you are not able to judge your negative in this way, you should still make proofs before attempting to retouch the plate.

675. After you have proofed the negative or examined it and ascertained what is to be done, proceed first with the etching, correcting and reducing all high-lights of the neck and drapery, outlining the figure, and removing any superfluous prominences in the outline. In fact, do all that is necessary to do with the etcher. When this is accomplished, take some of the reducing paste on the tip of your finger and rub over the large portions which have been etched. This will smooth them up and remove grittiness. The reducing paste may be applied to all large spaces worked over with the knife, so when retouching those parts the pencil will not follow the grain produced by the knife, but the surface will have an even tooth throughout. Of course the reducing paste cannot be applied to small

parts, such as straight lines, etc., as you would be liable to spread the reduction to other portions than those you desire to reduce.

676. After all the high-lights have been reduced apply the retouching dope. The extreme highest point of light on the negative being quite opaque there will be but very little work on it, other than the blending of any blemish that may exist, yet you should always begin the retouching work at the highest point of light on the forehead. Proceed in a systematic manner to retouch the various features in accordance with the foregoing lessons.

677. If any of the etched portions have been reduced too much with the knife, they should not be built up until you come to them in the regular order of retouching. Should you attempt to build them up before retouching the higher points of light, you will not know exactly how much retouching is required.

678. If you find it necessary to etch after having applied the retouching dope, be sure to rub those portions which have been worked upon by the etching knife very lightly with the reducing paste, as this will remove the coarse grain produced by the knife, and also supply a new tooth for the lead.

679. The blemishes and most transparent portions should be given first consideration and the lead applied to them in such a way as to break up and remove them with the least number of strokes. Do not forget, however, that too heavy a stroke, as well as too many light strokes, will cause a glaze over the surface of the negative. When this occurs it will be difficult to apply any more lead to these parts without coating the negative with retouching varnish. Remember that these blemishes must not be filled in solid. The imperfections must be broken up with cross strokes, so that a grain will be produced and the whole surface built up to match the surrounding tint. If you sit too close to your work you will see the strokes of the pencil, and this will cause you to fill in the imperfections solidly, When sitting at the proper distance from the negative you

get a general idea of the effect of the retouching, and a looseness is bound to result.

680. The best effect of roundness or atmosphere can only be obtained by working in a systematic way - beginning in the highest point of light and working downward. In this way you should start to work on the features which are nearest the front of the face; your stroke will be longer here, but as you gradually work away on either side, a finer and lighter stroke should be employed, as you are then working more on the side of the face. The coarsest grain should be where it naturally appears on the front of the face. In fact, you must try to carry out in your retouching the natural appearance of the subject, which is round, and not flat. Picture in your mind, to the best of your ability, the way the subject appeared under the light, and then proceed to model in a manner to carry out this effect.

681. It should be your aim in photography to truthfully represent nature as she exists. To over-retouch the portrait or to work promiscuously is not carrying out this idea. In retouching high-lights, especially where the amount of contrast between these lights and the half-tones is very slight, there is great danger of building up the half-tones too much and thus flattening out the entire surface. This principle is clearly exemplified in the forehead, where delicate half-tones surround the various high-lights. The greatest amount of modeling is to be done midway between the extreme highest point of light and the half-tone or shadow.

682. As it has been previously stated, practically no retouching is required in the highest point of light. The shadow portions and the extreme high-lights will need little more than the blemishes removed. The actual modeling and blending is done in the portions immediately surrounding the high-light; therefore, in the delicate halftones on the forehead only the blemishes and those imperfections which stand out boldly should be removed. The greatest care must be exercised not to fill in these delicate half-tones so that they will be as opaque as the

highest point of light. This will immediately cause an entire loss of modeling, and destroy the character of the individual as expressed by this portion of the face.

683. If you begin blending in the very highest points of light, and then simply continue working down into the surrounding half-tones, following the lighting on the face, making no attempt at filling in any one portion more than another, and then proceed to the next highest point of light and work in a similar manner, there will be no danger of destroying the half-tones and flattening the forehead. If, after this is done, and then on viewing the work at a distance of, say, two feet from the negative, you observe some shadows which appear a little sunken and not blended evenly, apply a few broad strokes of the pencil and blend these lines in proper relation to the surrounding lights.

684. Although we have used the forehead as an example, the same principles hold good when working on all portions of the face, and the greatest of care must be exercised not to destroy the original modeling and gradation in the negative.

685. The extreme shadow portions should always be left until the last. Although for the beginner the retouching of these parts may at first seem difficult, the experienced worker will have no trouble in quickly removing the blemishes and doing the necessary modeling, for by experience he will work with feeling and instinctively work lighter in the shadows and with more delicate strokes of the pencil.

686. It is always advisable to have one certain system and to follow it. This, together with practice, has more to do than anything else with your gaining speed and being able to turn out the very best class of work in the quickest possible time.

687. Where the subject is in evening or low-neck dress, after working and modeling the face you next proceed to the retouching on the neck. The objectionable highlights on the neck should have been etched before attempting to retouch; therefore, all that is now required will be to blend and to model. Of course the outline of the neck

must not be lost sight of, and this should have been properly shaped during the process of etching. In this outlining, straight lines are to be broken and formed into curves. Angular outlines should also be curved and objectionable parts removed.

688. As previously stated, the experienced retoucher should be able to read the negative at a glance, but until you have reached this stage continue to make proofs both before attempting to work on the negative and also whenever in doubt as to the result produced by your penciling and etching. Before turning the negative over to the printer it would also be advisable to make a proof so that you may be positive whether or not your work has been satisfactorily done.